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Module 7: Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes


Genre:
Realistic Fiction

Book Summary:
Lanesha is a girl living in New Orleans right before Hurricane Katrina hits.  She is adopted by an older lady, Mama Ya-Ya, who has a special ability to see the future.  Lanesha, herself, is gifted with seeing things that others cannot, and for this, she is often made fun of.  Still, she manages to befriend a boy, TaShon, and when the storm hits, they depend on one another for survival.

Rhodes, J. P. (2010). Ninth ward (1st ed.). New York: Little, Brown and Co.

Impressions:
This is the first novel I have read related to Hurricane Katrina, and while I remember it vividly, I viewed it as an outsider.  Rhodes does a good job putting the reader into the shoes of the people who were living in the Ninth Ward at the time of the hurricane.  While there are some supernatural elements within the story, they help the define the culture of some of the people living in the area.  Overall, the story gives insight into what it was like to live in New Orleans during this event.

Professional Review:
"Born with a caul, 12-year-old Lanesha can see and sometimes communicate with spirits, and her guardian, former midwife Mama Ya-Ya, has dreams and visions that foretell the future. Their exquisitely happy, though poor, life in the New Orleans Ninth Ward is disrupted by news of a powerful storm approaching. Mama Ya-Ya knows it will get bad, but she has no means to get Lanesha out of the city. Knowing she herself will soon die, Mama Ya-Ya decides to wager that  Lanesha’s talents, both her supernatural skills and her more commonplace pluck and creativity, will see the young girl and her friend TaShon through Hurricane Katrina safely. The two children must confront not only the intense storm and Mama Ya-Ya’s death but rapidly rising flood waters to survive. Rhodes’s characters are likable and her story gripping. Unfortunately, though, romanticized depictions such as this one threaten to undermine our collective sense of the true plight of pre- and post-Katrina Ninth Ward residents. A good title for discussion when balanced with historical accounts of Katrina and her aftermath. (Fiction. 10-14)"

Kirkus (2010). [Review for the book Ninth Ward by J.P. Rhodes].   Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jewell-parker-rhodes/ninth-ward/

 Library Uses:
Because of the current discussion on climate change and the potential of more weather related disasters, this book would be a good connection to the modern day.  Depending on where they live, it might be a good starting point to research what kinds of weather related disasters are most likely in the area, as well as how to be prepared for such events.

 Readalikes:
Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere by Julie Lamana
Finding Someplace by Denise Lewis Patrick
Zane and the Hurricane: A Story of Katrina by Rodman Philbrick

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